Go West, Young Man!
by Murphdawg20
Summary: After surviving the shoot out in the observatory, Vito is sent out to an up and coming desert town to learn the casino business.
1. New Opportunities

Vito turned, and stared out the window at the car Joe was traveling in. He caught a brief glimpse of the back of Joe's head before the vehicle disappeared from view. Even though it hadn't been said out loud, Vito knew that his childhood friend was being taken to some remote area of the city to be killed.

"Leo, how could you do this? You know Joe's my friend. Hell, he kept me from being killed out there at the observatory, even after Falcone offered him an opportunity to be a capo."

Leo sighed. "This is the price of doing business, kid. I did you a favor because I owed you one. You kept me from getting killed by your rat friend Henry. So, I stepped in to keep you alive when every organized crime figure in this city wanted you in an unmarked grave. Joe…Joe's a hothead. If we don't get rid of him now, we'll have to get rid of him 6 months or a year down the road. He's bad for business; bad for everyone."

"But Joe…"

"He's especially bad for you, Vito. What has your friend Joe done for you? Ask yourself that question. Because of him, you got arrested and inducted into the army. You almost got your ass shot off in Europe. Then, you come home. What happens then? You spend 6 years in the can. You get out, and then what? He gets you involved in a gang war that nearly leads to your death."

Leo's eyes narrowed as he stared at Vito intensely "Joe brought you nothing but trouble. You should be on your hands and knees thanking me for getting rid of him for you."

Almost like someone had thrown a switch, the old man's mood brightened. "You'll forget about all this when we get down to the cathouse. We're going to have a great time. We're have plenty to celebrate."

Vito tried to remain calm during the car ride. He knew in his heart that Leo was right. Joe was a trouble maker. Still, the man had been almost like an older brother to Vito. If not for him, Vito would have been sent back to fight the Krauts in 1944. He would have never gotten involved with the Clemente's, and would probably have ended up breaking his back down on the docks.

Leo put his hand on Vito's shoulder. "Look, Vito. When you join this thing of ours, you take an oath to put the Family before your own family, and before your friends. That means, sometimes friends will die. Hell, sometimes you may even be asked to kill your friends. I've seen plenty of mine die. I've even pulled the trigger a couple of times. It's part of the business that we're in, Vito. If you can't accept that, get out now. Spend the rest of your life fixing cars, or flipping pizzas. If you want to continue on with us, you have to realize that you WILL see friends die."

The rest of the ride went on in silence. That evening at the cathouse, Vito drank to the memory of his friends Joe and Henry. He drank to forget about the events of the past several weeks. He drank to put up a brave front for Leo and his men. Inside, he was tormented. He had no idea what the next step in his life would be. Would he continue going down the path he had been traveling down, or would he give it all up for a normal, quiet life?

The cathouse was jumping, as usual. This night, it was full of Vinci men. They were celebrating their victory. Not only had they avoided a war with the Triads, but they had eliminated a major threat in Carlo Falcone. The Falcone's would probably be looking to retaliate, but with so many of their people dead, the family couldn't put up much of a fight.

Vito tried to put aside his worries, and enjoy himself. However, he couldn't put aside the thought that his best friend was either dead or being tortured. It made him shiver a little. He hoped that Joe's death had been, or would be, quick.

As the party was starting to wrap up, he sat in a booth with Leo and Pepe in a corner of the club. Leo pulled a key from his pocket and passed it to Vito.

"Don't go back to your apartment tonight, Vito. There are still plenty of people in this town who want you dead, so it'll be best if you lay low tonight. I got you a room at the Empire Arms Hotel."

Vito's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and Leo gave him a sly smile.

"Surprised? Thankfully, you and Joe managed not to blow up the entire building, so the hotel is still open. At least the first 17 floors are. Stay there tonight, and I'll come calling for you tomorrow afternoon. We have a few more things to discuss."

"Thanks," Vito said as he pocketed the key.

"Now, I think it's time for me to get home, and get to bed," Leo said. "I'm getting too old for a night of booze and broads. Good night, Vito."

"Good night, Leo…And thanks, again."

"Like I said, kid, you did me a favor, so I did you one. See you tomorrow." With that, Leo got up and he and Pepe left the building.

Soon after, Vito headed out, as well. He jumped in a cab, and rode downtown to the Empire Arms. He barely managed to make it up to his room before passing out from exhaustion. It had been a crazy, stressful few days, and he needed his sleep.

He awoke to someone pounding on the door to his room, and sunlight streaming in through the windows. He grabbed his pistol from the nightstand, and crept over to the door. He peered through the peephole, and saw Leo standing in the hallway. As usual, the man was impeccably dressed in a suit and tie. Vito slipped the gun into the waistband of his boxers, and opened the door.

"Hey, kid," Leo greeted him. "Get dressed; I'm taking you to a baseball game this afternoon."

Vito scratched his head. "Afternoon? What time is it?"

"It's 1pm. Now, get moving! I don't want to miss batting practice."

Vito couldn't believe he had slept nearly 12 hours. He really had been exhausted. He threw on a dress shirt, a pair of slacks, and headed out the door.

The Empire Cannons were playing the Lost Heaven Angels in Kingston Stadium, and Leo and Vito had box seats. They chatted, ate peanuts, and rooted on the Cannons. It was almost as if the turmoil of the past few days hadn't happened.

At the start of the fifth inning, the Cannons were leading 3 to 1.

"You can't stay in town, Vito," Leo said as he started straight ahead at the on-field action.

"wait…What?"

"There's too much heat on you. Word on the street is that Eddie Scarpa has put a bounty on you. He wants you dead. The few Falcone men left are more than willing to track you down."

"What should I do, Leo," Vito asked.

"The way I see it, you have two options. If you want out of the life, I can get you out of town safely. You can start over in a new town, and live a normal life. However, if you want to stay involved in this thing of ours, Mr. Vinci has given me permission to invite you into the Family. You'll still have to get out of Empire Bay, but you'll be working for us the same way that you worked for Clemente and Falcone."

The offer piqued Vito's curiosity. "Where would I go if I started working for Mr. Vinci?"

"You ever hear of Las Vincennes?"

Vito cracked open a peanut shell, and popped the nut into his mouth. "The name rings a bell. What about it?"

"It's an up and coming little gambling town out west, in the middle of the desert. Casinos are springing up all over the place in that town, and Mr. Vinci is planning on expanding out there. It could mean millions of dollars for the Family. We just need a representative out there to make sure Mr. Vinci's interests are being represented."

"And that someone is going to be me?"

"Not exactly. We're sending a guy named Nicky Damone out there to do that. He's a good guy. He would be in charge down there. You would be his right hand man."

"Sounds interesting," Vito said. "Can I have a few days to think about it?"

Leo shook his head. "Nope. You have until the end of the game."

Vito couldn't concentrate on the rest of the game. Could he really continue on as a gangster? The lifestyle was a glamorous one. It meant expensive suits, flashy cars, booze, broads, a decent living, and the respect of everyone he knew. At the same time, it had led him to a prison sentence, a sister who didn't want anything to do with him, a dead best friend, and a mother he didn't get a chance to say goodbye to.

His other option was to live a normal, law-abiding life. Could he really be Vito the schoolteacher? Vito the chef? No chance. In the end, he knew that his only real option was to take Leo's offer to go out west and learn the casino business.

The game ended with the Cannons winning 4-1. As they got up to leave the stadium, Leo was asking for Vito's answer.

"Well?" he asked.

Vito sighed. He had made his decision. "Tell Nicky that he's got his right hand man."

Leo clapped him on the shoulder. "Kid, you made the right choice."


	2. A Failed Gamble In The Desert

That evening, Vito received a call in his hotel room.

"Vito, it's Leo. I have a car waiting for you downstairs. It's going to take you to the Mona Lisa. Meet me there."

He grabbed a coat, and rode the elevator down to the lobby.

"Mr. Scaletta," a man waiting in the lobby called when he noticed Vito. "The car is waiting at the curb. Follow me."

Vito got into the back seat of the dark blue Lassiter limousine, and was driven down to the Mona Lisa Restaurant. He couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive about walking into the Vinci hangout. The last time he was there, he was held at gunpoint by a Vinci caporegime, knocked out, and interrogated by some of the family's men.

The men in the restaurant, mostly Vinci men, undoubtedly remembered that Vito and Joe had beaten that capo to death, and taken out a dozen Vinci soldiers during their escape.

Conversation in the restaurant got a lot quieter when Vito walked in. The bartender nodded curtly to him, and pointed toward the back of the room. Vito looked in that direction, and saw Leo sitting in a corner booth with another man.

"Vito, back here," Leo said. "Have a seat," he said, gesturing to the empty seat next to a man Vito had never met.

"Vito Scaletta," Leo said, "meet Nicky Damone. Nicky, this is Vito."

Nicodemo "Nicky" Damone looked to be in his early 30's, and a few inches shorter than Vito. He had the same black hair and olive skin as Vito. Rather than a fancy three piece suit, he wore a simple black business suit. He looked more like a CEO than a Mafioso.

"So, Vito," Nicky asked, "you interested in doing some work for us out in Vincennes?"

"Yeah. I've never been out there. I'm looking forward to it."

Nicky smirked. "Well, this won't be a vacation. "In fact, I've already got a job lined up for you. Mr. Vinci's business partner out there is a guy named Levi Reisen. He convinced Mr. Vinci to invest in his casino, the Sand Dunes. The casino's been losing money, and Mr. Vinci's convinced that the only way the family will make money off of the investment is to take over the casino ourselves."

"To do that," Leo said, "we've got to get rid of Reisen."

"Let me guess," Vito replied, "I'm the one who's got to get rid of him."

"This is your chance to prove yourself to us," Leo said. "Get rid of this guy, do it quietly, and Mr. Vinci will be willing to accept you as part of the family. You and Nicky will have that little desert town to yourselves"

Vito lit a cigarette, took a long drag, and then nodded. "Ok, I'll do it."

Nicky slid a train ticket across the table to him. "Good. You leave in three hours. I'll be heading out there tomorrow morning, so I won't be too far behind you. Good luck, Vito."

* * *

><p>Levi Reisen had been born in Empire Bay in 1910. His family was one of the few Jewish families that lived on the West Side. As a result, most of Levi's friends growing up were Italian. He spent his adolescence hanging around the Mona Lisa Restaurant. Some of his friends had fathers, uncles, or older brothers who spent time there and worked for the Vincis. Soon, Levi was running small errands for the Vinci Family.<p>

When Levi was 13, his family moved away from the West Side, and into a bigger apartment in a nicer neighborhood. Levi didn't spend much time at the Mona Lisa anymore. He did take what he learned there, though, and start his own street gang. The mostly Jewish gang made serious money with petty theft and gambling, and Levi realized that he had a knack for bookmaking. By the age of 16, he had stopped going to school, and was earning more money than his father.

That was about the time his father called him a "no good, dirty gangster," and kicked him out of the house. It didn't worry Levi. He had enough money to rent an apartment of his own. He was 16, and he had an apartment and a car of his own!

Levi killed for the first time when he was 17. He and a couple of guys in his gang had broken into a truck depot to steal a shipment of the newest wireless radios. A night watchman caught them. Levi had offered to give him a cut of the profits if he kept quite. The man refused, and Levi stabbed him four times in the gut.

Things changed for Levi and his crew when a Clemente caporegime pressured Levi into kicking up 60% of the gangs profits to the Clemente Family. Levi shot the man, and dumped the body in a back alley. The Clementes came after him. In one week, three of his gang's top earners (and three of his best friends) had been found dead. Levi knew that he couldn't survive much longer.

He and the surviving members of his crew left for Lost Heaven. There was a power vacuum out there. The Morello Family had been all but wiped out by the Salieris. Thanks to some rat who was talking to the FBI, half of the Salieri Family was under indictment, and the other half was in hiding.

He set up a bookmaking operation in the new city. For the first 6 months, Levi watched his back. He was afraid some Clemente button man would sneak up on him one day and put a bullet in the back of his head. The day never came, though. Things went well in Lost Heaven. He made contacts with the fledgling Salieri Family, and expanded his gambling operation. He bought a house in the hills, and spent his evenings hanging out in bars and restaurants with famous movie stars.

During the war, Levi heard the stories about a gambling resort that was opening in Las Vincennes to accommodate GI's. He thought it would be a great time to expand his operation. He planned a resort casino that would be the envy of all others. He would have a hotel and casino all in one. The casino would have thousands of square feet worth of slot machines, black jack tables, and roulette wheels. The hotel would have a swimming pool, restaurants, and lavish suites for high rollers. The hotel would even have a golf course. A golf course, right in the middle of the desert!

To make it happen, he would need lots of money. He was doing well in Lost Heaven, but he would need more money than his bookmaking operation brought in. He couldn't go to his friends in the Salleri Family. They were only taking in a fraction of the cash they were bringing in during their glory days. Instead, he went back to Empire Bay to speak to Frank Vinci.

Levi convinced Mr. Vinci to invest in his idea by promising him a percentage of the profits. Vinci agreed, and gave Levi the money he needed. Construction began soon after the war. It didn't matter that there wouldn't be as many GI's around as before. Gambling in Vincennes was there to stay.

The Sand Dunes Hotel and Casino had its grand opening on Memorial Day weekend in 1949. Half of the rooms were still unfinished. The sprinkler system on the golf course regularly malfunctioned, and caused the grass to turn dry, and brown. Even Levi's celebrity friends couldn't make it into town due to rain in Lost Heaven that grounded airplanes.

The casino lost money that first year. A big, frightening man showed up at Levi's office one night. He said that Mr. Vinci was getting impatient, and wanted a return on his investment. Levi closed the casino down in February of 1950, and went into debt to renovate the casino. It reopened 6 months later. Finally, the golf course looked like a real golf course. Finally, people started showing up to gamble. The casino started to turn a profit, but not enough to satisfy Frank Vinci.

Vinci wanted to send his own men to take over the casino and "run things the right way." He couldn't expand out west, though, until he had the blessing of The Commission. During a meeting in early 1951, The Commission voted to make Las Vincennes an open city. That meant that any and all crime families in the United States could set up shop in the there.

Soon after the meeting, Vinci gave the order to kill Levi Reisen so that his own men could take over the casino. "I've always liked the kid," Vinci told his consigliere Leo Galante. "It's nothing personal. Just business."

With a train ticket in hand, and the order given, Vito Scaletta left for Las Vincennes to kill Levi.

* * *

><p>The morning after Vito left town, a fisherman pulled a human torso out of the Culver River. The torso had no head, no arms or legs, and no genitalia. Medical examiners could determine that the torso belonged to a male, but that was it. Police were baffled. They had no idea that the body belonged to a man that had recently disappeared: A young hood from Little Italy named Joe Barbaro.<p> 


	3. The Hit

Vito used the train trip out west to study some information Nicky had given him about Levi Reisen. Levi had just recently sold his mansion in Lost Heaven to move to a new home in Las Vincennes. Vito would follow the guy around, and get a feel for his routine, but he figured that it would be easiesr to hit him at his home than in the casino.

When he arrived in Las Vincennes, Vito called Leo to let him know he had made it to town. Leo told himthat Nicky was on the way out there, and would arrive the next day. He also told Vito to look for a young man named Sam. He was a Vinci man out in Vincennes who worked in Levi's casino. He would help Vito get settled into town.

Vito had no idea what Sam looked like, but apparently Sam had been told about Vito.

"Vito! Hey, Vito! Over here." Vito looked over, and almost did a double take.

Sam was a few years younger than Vito, and had the strangest fashion sense he had ever seen. The kid was wearing a yellow suit, pink shirt, orange tie, and dark aviator sunglasses. The kid was inside, and he was wearing sunglasses!

"You Sam?" Vito asked.

"The one and only," Sam Diamond said.

"Great to meet you," Vito said as he shook the guy's hand. "Nice outfit."

"I only wear the best," Sam replied proudly. "Hey, if you want, I can get an outfit just like this one. There's a great men's clothi…"

"It's ok," Vito cut him off. "I'll settle for what I've already got."

"Suit yourself.

They walked out into the parking lot, and Sam led Vito to the oddest looking vehicle Vito had ever seen. It was a neon yellow color, and looked like it was half car and half spaceship.

"What the fuck is this?" Vito asked.

"It's the next big thing in automobiles," Sam said. "The Jefferson Futura. They're flying off the car lots out here. This one's yours," Sam handed Vito the keys.

"Mine?"

"Yeah. I was told by our friends in Empire Bay to get a car for you to use, so I got you the best one available."

"Uhhh…thanks," Vito said as he unlocked the car and climbed in.

Vito started the car and pulled it out of the parking lot. Sam directed him to a small building a small wooden building in an old part of town with a sign reading "PAWN SHOP" over the door.

"What are we doing here?" Vito asked.

"We're here to see Mike," Sam answered. Mike runs the pawn shop. In the back room, though, friends of Mr. Vinci can pick up just about any kind of weapon you can imagine. I thought we should stop by and get you a piece to use while you're in town.

The pawn shop was empty. The only person inside was a short man with a receding hairline.

"Hey! Sammy!" the man said as Sam and Vito walked in. The man walked around from behind the counter and slapped Sam on the back.

"Great to see you, Mike!" Sam said. "Vito, this is Mike Lombardo. Mike, Vito here is a friend of ours who's going to be here in town for a while."

Vito and Mike shook hands and said hello to each other.

"Mike," Sam said, "we're here to grab something for Vito from your back room."

Mike nodded knowingly. "Of course. Follow me." Mike led them through a door marked "PRIVATE"

Vito was astonished by what he saw. Mike's back room was a virtual armory. Mike had everything from pistols to tommy guns. He even had grenades, and sticks of dynamite.

"So, what kind of gun are you looking for, Vito?" Mike asked.

"Nothing fancy," Vito answered. "Just a Colt 1911 will be fine."

"Ahh, a classic," Mike said as he reached under the counter, then pulled out the weapon. He reached under again, and pulled out an empty clip and a box of bullets.

"Great. How much do I owe you?" Vito asked.

"Don't worry about it," Sam said. "I'll take care of it." Sam pulled a wad of bills from his pocket, and put a few down on the counter.

"Anything you need, Vito; guns, bombs, you name it, Mike can get it for you," Sam said.

"I'll keep that in mind," Vito said. "Thanks, Mike. Nice meeting you."

* * *

><p>The next stop was the Sand Dunes casino. Sam showed Vito to the suite that had been reserved for him.<p>

"I know that you're here for Mr. Reisen," Sam said before leaving Vito alone for the day. "He has an office downstairs, just off the casino floor near the craps tables. He's there now, and usually sticks around until about 6pm."

Vito didn't worry about Levi just yet. First he needed to rest after his cross-country train trip. He took a short nap in his suite, then got ready to start planning the hit. He threw on a blue dress shirt and gray slacks. He walked around the casino floor until he found the office that Sam had told him about. He bought $200 worth of chips, and parked himself at a craps table nearby. Not long after he sat down, Vito saw a man leave the office he had been watching. He immediately recognized Levi from a picture Nicky had given him. Vito got up and inconspicuously followed Levi out into the parking lot. Levi jumped into a red Schubert Frigate. Vito hurried to his own car, and followed Levi out of the parking lot.

Vito stayed two or three cars behind the casino boss as he followed him through town. Soon, the casinos and businesses disappeared, and Vito was driving through residential neighborhoods. Finally, Levi Reisen pulled his car into the driveway of his home. Vito drove slowly by, turned around, and parked at the curb several houses down from Levi's.

The house was a large Mediterranean-style home. There was no fence around it, which Vito thought, would make it much easier to sneak onto the grounds. Levi's car sat in the driveway rather than in a garage, which gave Vito an idea. He began to devise a plan of action.

He went to Mike's pawn shop, and asked Mike if he had the material to make a car bomb. The weapons dealer said yes, and told Vito he would get to work on it.

Then Vito went back to the casino and enjoyed his first evening in Las Vincennes. After losing all of the chips he had bought earlier in the day and drinking more than he had planned to, he went upstairs to rest up for the next day.

He was awakened the next morning by a ringing telephone. Nicky was on the line. He had made it to town about an hour before, and told Vito to meet him downstairs. The two had breakfast in the casino's restaurant, and Vito filled him in on his plan to hit Levi. Nicky listened, and gave Vito his blessing to carry out the plan.

* * *

><p>That evening, Levi Reisen pulled into his Schubert Frigate into his driveway. Vito sat slouched in the driver's seat of a car he had stolen from the parking lot of the casino and waited for the right time to strike. When nightfall came and the lights were off in most of the nearby homes, Vito exited his car and walked briskly to Levi's driveway.<p>

In his hand, he had a small bundle of dynamite that he had gotten from Mike Lombardo. He looked up and down the street before crawling under the front of Levi's Frigate and wired up the bomb. Then, he ran back to his car and waited.

For the rest of the evening, Vito napped in the seat of the car. When morning finally came, a groggy Vito watched as Levi Reisen left his home and jumped into his car. Seconds later, the ground shook and Reisen's vehicle exploded. Vito started the stolen car he sat in, and drove slowly by the flaming wreckage.

On the ground near what was the driver's side of the destroyed car was a burning lump that had been Levi Reisen. Vito sped off, and drove to a grocery store several miles away. He abandoned the stolen car he drove, and jumped into the passanger seat of a car driven by Sam Diamond. Seconds later, the two were driving back to the Sand Dunes.

An army of police and firemen converged on Levi Reisen's property. The corner pronounced him dead at the scene. Over the next few days, newspapers in Lost Heaven, Las Vincennes, and Empire Bay ran stories about his murder. Nearly every newspaper story referred to Levi Reisen as the "Father of Las Vincennes."

At the Sand Dunes, Vito delivered the news to Nicky that Levi was dead. Nicky made a call at a pay phone, and minutes later several Vinci men entered the casino. The mob takeover of Las Vincennes had officially begun.


End file.
